Bike Tech: In Defense of R-SYS

 

Mavic R-SYS rear wheel

Few things elicit lust within the triathlete as profoundly as carbon fiber, especially in new applications. But mention CF spokes and suspicion sets in. Carbon Fiber is the Achilles of high-tech materials. Incredibly strong and seemingly invincible, it appears to be too good to be true. And it is, until it breaks. The Achilles heel of CF lies in stresses applied to loaded fibers off their axis, in addition to the fact that the super-material can fail spectacularly in short order with little warning. 

But the performance, oh the performance. The light weight, incredible strength, and aesthetic appeal of the woven fibers are hard to deny. CF's siren song can be found in Mavic's proclaimed 3rd generation of cycling wheels: the R-SYS. Incorporating their proprietary TRACOMP technology, the CF spokes of these hoops operate in both tension and compression, offering reportedly drastic increases in performance, through lighter weight, increased stiffness, and enhanced handling characteristics. Following a recall of the 1st generation of the front wheel, which proved susceptible to failure induced by collision with a foreign object (i.e. rock, pedal,  ...), the R-SYS has been re-released. But is there still a market? Mavic's sales are down 15% and the parent company is considering selling the brand. I can't answer this question, but I can comment on my own experience with the wheelset. 

The morning of the day of my very first ride on the new Mavic R-SYS wheelset I had very generously been given as a gift, I read this article.

Mavic heard of tubeless tires and thought spokeless wheels were in order?

Needless to say, I was not abounding in confidence as I set out over some gorgeous country roads. Though, to me, the excitement of riding such an apparently technologically advanced wheelset was hard to deny, I had my concerns: Spokane's roadways are in a heated competition with most developing nations for the title of crappiest road conditions, and I knew the R-SYS would be put through their paces. In addition, I'm 6'3'' and fluctuate around the 200 lb (90kg) mark, which greatly increases the stresses on a wheelset. 

Yet, in the last 4 months of heavy riding over very rough roads, the R-SYS have never failed me. In fact, they've performed exceptionally. I immediately noticed an incredible improvement in accelerations (both sprinting and while climbing) and thought the wheels, despite the oversized spokes, spun very well, counter-intuitively-very-surprisingly-well, at high speeds (note: all comparisons are made to Mavic Ksyrium Elite and Bontrager Select wheelsets). In addition, the chip-seal roads prevalent throughout the area suddenly seemed as though they were recently asphalted and perfectly smooth. The performance has been dreamy to say the least, and on numerous occasions they've elicited positive comments from my cycling team. 

In short, Mavic claims that all durability issues have been addressed by the 2nd generation. I know from 4 months of hard riding that the still laser true wheels perform exceptionally well. But the cost ($1100-$1400 USD) and possibility of failure, whether founded or unfounded, make this performance come at a price. 

Supplemental review: Check out this excellent video review by the highly-capable folks over at testrider.com